Wrexham's new museum will celebrate Welsh football
One of the city's landmark buildings, the County Buildings, formerly the home of Wrexham Museum, is being transformed into a new 'Museum of Two Halves'.
Set to open in 2026, the 'two halves' of the new museum will include an enhanced and expanded museum for Wrexham, alongside a new football museum for Wales.
New galleries are being created to display the Wrexham Museum collections, which means an enhanced experience for visitors and a first-class, modern venue for discovering the fascinating and eventful story of our region of North East Wales.
Artist impression of the atrium at the new museum. Image courtesy of Haley Sharpe
Wrexham is often referred to as 'the spiritual home of Welsh football'. As well as being home to the now world-famous Wrexham AFC, it's also the birthplace of the Football Association of Wales (FAW). The museum is custodian to the Welsh Football Collection - the largest collection of Welsh football memorabilia held in public ownership in Wales.
The new football museum will celebrate Welsh football, past and present, in all its diversity, from grassroots clubs to the national teams, as well as highlighting Wrexham's historic achievements in the sport.
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The museum is being developed by Wrexham Council's museum team in association with museum designers, Haley Sharpe Design, architects Purcell and contractors SWG Construction, The Hub Consulting Limited, Goppion and Heritage Interactive.
Funding support for the museum is provided by Wrexham Council, Welsh Government, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, UK Government and the Wolfson Foundation.
To create a state-of-the-art museum of requires a significant redevelopment of the existing building - inside and out.
As well as developing a fantastic new museum, this is also very much a conservation project that will see the 167-year-old, Grade II listed building restored to its former glory.
A wall under repair at the building during when it served as a police station, Regent Street, July 1965.
Great care is being taken to unveil the most significant features of the building, while ensuring public access and enhancing accessibility, wellbeing and learning opportunities:
• All the stonework on the outside of the building (including the iconic turrets and chimneys) is being thoroughly cleaned, and repaired where necessary. Repairs have also taken place to the roof where required.
• The inner courtyard is being transformed into a new, two-storey atrium with a brand new roof and new walkways. The steelwork is now in place, concrete has been poured and access has been developed from the atrium to the new galleries.
• New internal walls and ceilings are now being installed - a new look and an expanded layout for the new museum.
• The cafe and shop space on the front courtyard are also being totally revamped - new steelwork for these areas has now been put in place and a new zinc roof replacing the glass roof which will enhance the café area.
• A new electrical infrastructure has been installed including more efficient heating systems and the installation of PV panels to improve energy efficiency.
• Where possible original features have been retained and original bricks reused to retain and enhance the historical features of the building.
• A new lift shaft is in place, ready for the installation of the new lift car.
• New lifts and fully accessible toilets have been included and the spaces have been created ready for fitting out, improving accessibility around the building.
• New windows have been installed, where original windows couldn't be retained in keeping with the building, where possible original windows and doors have been retained.
Contractors are working closely with the project team to design, develop and construct the interior spaces of the museum, including the new galleries, the shop, and the impressive atrium space in the centre of the building which has been opened up to its full size for the first time since the 1970's.
Work underway at Wrexham's 'Museum of Two Halves'. Image by Craig Colville for WCBC
Development of the audio and visual parts of the galleries is now taking place, including the production of new film footage.
Wrexham's new museum is being specifically designed to be a welcoming, accessible, community-focused space where everyone will be welcome.
Developing the museum will be an opportunity to create new ways to celebrate and explore the history of Wrexham, Wales and Welsh football. The aim will be to appeal to brand new audiences who may not have visited the museum previously, alongside loyal existing visitors.
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This work to reach these new audiences has already started.
While the building work continues to progress on site, the team have been busy organising learning and engagement activities in Wrexham and across the country to help spread the word about the new museum.
The Football Museum Wales Roadshow has been touring regions of Wales over the last few weeks and have had a terrific response, including Porthmadog, Mold, Chirk, Oswestry (well, it's nearly Wales), Bangor, Caernarfon - and Wrexham of course.
The team has also been engaging with local schools - Bronington VAP School and Rhosddu Primary School were among the first to visit the new Wrexham Museum Collections Store. Here they planned their own museums, made Roman mosaics, played football, listened to a professional storyteller, did yoga, got up close and personal with Paul Mullin and Gareth Bale's football shirts, and even helped to choose a brand new mascot for the museum.
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Cllr Paul Roberts, Wrexham Council's Lead Member for Partnerships, said: "In what is shaping up to be a fantastic year for culture in Wrexham, it's a tremendously exciting time for the city to see such great progress being made to transform one of our most iconic buildings into a state of the art visitor attraction.
"The new museum will be a hub for our entire community, a place where residents and thousands of new visitors can come together to learn and explore - a fantastic new resource for everyone who lives here and another boost to the city's flourishing national and international profile.
"As well as the great building progress on site, the museum team have also been busy organising engagement events across the country as part of the vital work to reach new audiences and ensure that everyone will be encouraged to visit when the museum opens next year. This work will include a significant presence on the Maes of the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham this August."
To find out more:
• Visit the Museum Pop-Up space on Queen's Square (just behind the benches opposite Caffè Nero) to view the design plans for the museum and speak to the museum team. We also have a range of unique gifts, books, cards and more for sale, all inspired by our exhibitions and Wrexham's local history.
• The Museum Courtyard Cafe has relocated to a temporary location at Tŷ Pawb's Food Court, while the museum building is closed for redevelopment. The menu still includes the usual range of delicious home-made light meals, coffees, sandwiches, soups, cakes and irresistible desserts!
Wrexham Archives has now relocated to a new, permanent home at Wrexham Library.
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